Four-time British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington took pole position at Brands Hatch for the final round of a 2024 series he is unlikely to win.
The Northern Irishman’s fourth pole position of the season will make a slight dent to his deficit to championship leader Jake Hill and Tom Ingram to 63 points, but with only 66 on the table on Sunday he is effectively out of it.
Even so, Turkington’s graduation to the Quick Six shootout at the wheel of his West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330e M Sport was enough to assure him of the Goodyear Wingfoot Award, where points are awarded through the season for qualifying positions, for the third time.
While Turkington took pole, he will be joined on the front row by Ingram, the Excelr8 Motorsport Hyundai i30 N Fastback pilot crucially ahead of his main championship rivals Hill and Ash Sutton.
“It was important for me just to try and get up there ahead of the main protagonists – everyone Jake’s fighting,” said Turkington.
“I’ve put together better laps, and there were a few corners I didn’t quite get bang on, but obviously it was good enough.”
While Turkington had access to 11 seconds per lap of hybrid, Ingram had one just 1s, and only just squeaked through Q2 into the final phase of qualifying.
Indeed, Ingram would have been dumped out in Q2 had Adam Morgan, the WSR BMW team-mate of Turkington and Hill, not had a lap that was good enough for second place chalked off for track limits. But Ingram made a big step forward in the last session and fell just 0.036 seconds short of Turkington’s pole time.
While Ingram progressed forwards, Sutton went the opposite way – the four-time champion had topped his Q1 session and Q2 in his Alliance Racing-run NAPA Ford Focus ST, on 5s per lap of hybrid, and set a time that was quicker than Turkington’s best in the final shootout.
But that was disallowed for track limits, Sutton reckoning that he was forced wide at Paddock Hill Bend to go past the Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra of practice pacesetter Aron Taylor-Smith.
Right at the chequered flag, Sutton was able to squeeze out a lap good enough for third, his rear tyres gone, and will be joined on the second row by the Speedworks Motorsport-run LKQ Toyota Corolla GR Sport of outside title shot Josh Cook.
Taylor-Smith ended up fifth, pipping Hill, who reported a “very strange feeling at the back of the car” after setting his Q2 time, and who like Ingram was on 1s per lap of hybrid.
Best of those not to make Q3 was the PMR Vauxhall of Jack Sears Trophy champion Mikey Doble, with the superb Daryl DeLeon getting his Unlimited Motorsport Cupra Leon into eighth position ahead of Morgan.
The top 10 was completed by the sixth and final title contender, Dan Cammish in his Alliance Ford.
